Company History

The North Carolina Granite Corporation was founded on the site of the famous Mount Airy White Quarry. The land was originally home to the Iroquois Indians until the first explorers came in 1524. In 1585, Queen Elizabeth chartered the land for Sir Walter Raleigh, but the early settlements failed. In 1663, King Charles II granted a charter to eight Englishmen including the land which is now North and South Carolina. The land became the property of the United States of America after the Revolutionary War in 1776. The US government began selling this land to local citizens, and the first recorded deed that included the quarry was registered in 1780, when Mr. Thomas Smith bought it for 50 shillings an acre.

This quarry was first operated in 1743, well before the Revolutionary War, by the Brothers of the Moravian Church who came to this region from Germany. Operations were limited in those days because of the lack of equipment and technology. The ownership of the quarry site passed through many hands over the next hundred years until 1889, when the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad was built from Greensboro to Mount Airy.

Mr. Thomas Woodroffe was selected to build the railway stations along the new rail line, and he decided to use the stone from the Mount Airy Quarry. He organized the North Carolina Granite Company May 14, 1889, and purchased the quarry site. The quarry has been in continuous operation ever since.

Since then, NCGC has continued to grow and evolve with the technology and markets. Today, NCGC owns and operates several quarries in North America and builds projects all over the world. The original investors from 1920 passed their stock to family, friends and employees, and today the company is owned by over 100 people, many working at NCGC every day, who look to the future with great respect for the past.